After the success of my last burning art experience, I had an idea. I laid down some of the rusty metal bits laying around my work area, and put them on a scrap piece of cedar. After assembling a rough 5×5 on the wood, I took a torch to it. Here is the result:
Sarah and I went to a few garage sales this weekend, and at one, I picked up a bunch of wooden spools. I’m sure I’ll use them for some art purposes, but in what form I’m not sure. For now, I like this display, which is how the old lady who sold them to me had them displayed. I asked her to include the sign with the spools. I like her handwriting.
In preparation for this show, I thought I’d lay out the flowers I’ve been working on. I tend to work in spurts, and I haven’t looked at them for awhile, so I thought I’d take an assessment. 16 bases fairly well done, 9 blocks still to adorn with metal bits.
Here is just a part of my collection of nuts and bolts, copper scraps, washers, springs, screws and scrap. I pick them up whenever I see them walking around. Keep your eyes down and you’d be amazed what you’ll find.
I took a class called “3 Simple Finishes” a couple of years ago, and though this was not one of the 3 covered in the title, it was mentioned in passing. When you mix vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar) and throw in some fine steel wool, it makes a kind of black stain for wood. Just paint it on. and let it set overnight.
Top left: tung oil on cedar
Top right: vinegar stain
Bottom left: more oil, 2 coats’ worth
Bottom right: vinegar stain, then oil
I tried this technique out on a cedar wall piece that also uses my homemade circle-cutting router jig.
The square field has been dyed, then oiled. I then used the router jig and a v-groove bit to cut concentric rings in the wood. This removed the dyed area. Then, I oiled the whole piece again. I actually think it would have looked better with no oil, and perhaps a less-red wood. Still, the cedar was from some dimensional lumber scraps I had around, so the price for this experiement was right. I do like this concentric idea a lot, though. Like growth rings on a tree, but still kind of graphic and vaguely primitive and aged-looking.
I think I might try burning the surface of the next one to a good char and skipping the oil on the newly exposed wood.
It’s 25 inches square.
I have always wondered how you cut your own mats. I feel confident I could make a nice frame, but never knew how to cut the mats. Now I just need to learn how to properly cut glass and I’m all set.
Finally, I’ve had time for some more exploration with my adze and crooked knives. Feel like I’m finally getting a feel for them, but realizing they are difficult to sharpen. I’ve been using a cloth buffing wheel and tripoli, which seems to work, but the point of the more crooked knife is always catching and scaring the living daylights out of me as it’s wrenched towards my body at high speeds. At least it will leave a nice clean wound. They keep a nice edge …
Here’s a square wall piece in Yellow Cedar. I made a circle-cutting jig for my plunge router
Here’s my first test of the circle cutting jig in some scrap Western Red Cedar (leftover from the picnic table!). Very dry, brittle wood, difficult to carve. The yellow cedar and basswood seem oily-er and nicer to carve. Far fewer chip outs or splinters.
Finally, the circle jig. Not my invention, but pretty handy, and it greatly expands my circle-machining capabilities. The yellow cedar project was finally too big for my drill press to reach center (18″ square piece).
